Maumee City School District Bylaws & Policies 5136 - RESPONSIBLE USE POLICY FOR TECHNOLOGY AND NETWORK USE Technology tools and resources profoundly influence education, the work place, and everyday life. Users of technology are challenged with discerning appropriate boundaries of use and recognizing potential risks of constantly emerging technologies. It is the Maumee City School District s intention to provide a framework of digital citizenship by which all technology users within the District will co-exist. This document establishes a standard of expected behavior of good digital citizens. Elements of Digital Citizenship A. Guiding Question: Does your behavior represent good work ethic and productivity? Identify appropriate uses of technology: 1. School Work - Use of devices, network, and services is for schoolwork and school-related purposes only. 2. Students in grades PK-12 may use a personally owned device for schoolwork as authorized by staff. All technology use is monitored and no privacy should be assumed. The District owns all data on the network and provided services. 3. Personal - Use of school devices, network, or services for entertainment or social purposes is prohibited. Use of school technology resources for political, religious, or commercial purposes is strictly forbidden. 4. Separate work and personal - Maumee City Schools (MCS) staff and students are expected to use District provided and authorized accounts and services for school work and personal accounts for personal activities. Staff should limit online communication/interaction with students to MCS provided or authorized services. 5. Access appropriate material - While Internet access in District schools is filtered, it is possible that users might access inappropriate material deliberately or by accident. Users may not create, access, distribute or share information about unsuitable material. If a student encounters questionable material, he/she should exit the material and report the incident to the teacher. 6. Students should only use technology under teacher supervision. B. Guiding Question: Does your behavior diminish technology resources for other users in the District community? 1. Care for technology resources
a. Leave resources in good working condition for next user. b. Report technical problems to teacher so that problems can be fixed. c. Avoid any behavior that interferes with the operation of school technology and network services. Disconnecting, changing configurations, hacking breaking, mishandling, or other alterations will be viewed as vandalism. d. Users must report any misuse of technology to a teacher or administrator. 2. Conserve resources a. Bandwidth. Our Internet and network bandwidth is shared among over 3000 users. Video, audio, games, and animations consume a large amount of bandwidth, limiting network and Internet speed for other users. Use your device for educational purposes to conserve available bandwidth. b. Storage Space. Only store files necessary to do your work and clean out obsolete files. Users may not store anything that is not directly related to their schoolwork on school drives or school-provided services. c. Consumables. Please use consumables sparingly (paper, ink, toner, etc.). Create, edit, submit, and present electronically when possible. Only print items needed for final products. Printing and copying is limited to schoolwork. Personal use of school resources is not permitted. d. Energy. Turn off equipment when it will not be used again that day. C. Guiding Question: Does your product improve knowledge and understanding? 1. Create responsibly a. Ensure projects and presentations shared with your classmates and others contain well-documented, well-researched, accurate, and reliable information that is cited when appropriate. b. Cite the work you have relied upon from other authors to build your knowledge base. c. Learn the difference between synthesizing from others work and plagiarism. Never plagiarize. d. When publishing your work online, include your first name, date, and grade level only. 2. Communicate and collaborate effectively a. Use technology to collaborate in solving problems and creating products. b. Use technology as a tool whenever possible to create a polished, effective product.
c. Keep in mind your potential audience (online or in-school communities) and purpose (to inform, persuade, etc.). d. Communicate professionally using proper grammar, spelling, content and tone. 3. Teach each other Remember that what you learn, create, and share with others is more than "just a project;" it is a contribution to the body of knowledge from which others can learn. D. Guiding Questions: Does your conduct impact the safety, security or reputation of yourself and others? Is your behavior honest and legal? 1. Safety a. Keep private or personal information offline. b. Be careful how you present yourself online. What you post may be viewed by anyone, including potential employers, etc. c. Treat others with kindness and respect. d. Protect your and others personal and professional reputations. High standards of online manner and conduct are expected from all users. Users should refrain from any behavior/activities that would reflect negatively on themselves, others and/or the District. e. Create a positive environment. Bullying, harassment, intimidation, tricking, or any behavior which disrupts a safe and positive learning/working environment is strictly prohibited. Report abusive behavior to a teacher or administrator. f. Students will participate in Internet safety instruction integrated into the district s instructional program in grades K-12. 2. Security a. Protect your network accounts. Never share usernames or passwords; always sign out/log off of all accounts when finished and never allow others to use them. b. Create secure passwords with letters, numbers, and special characters. c. Only access your accounts and network locations. You may not use or access others accounts. Never access, modify, forward, or delete files created by another user without their permission. d. Be watchful to prevent viruses, spyware, and other malware from infecting the computer/network. e. Privacy of email or any electronic communication is not guaranteed and may become public information. f. Users are responsible for maintaining security of student information and other personally identifiable data and for upholding FERPA (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g), the student confidentiality law (Ohio revised code Section 3319.321), the Ohio Privacy Act (Chapter 1347
3. Law and Ethics of the Ohio revised code), and any other applicable privacy policies and regulations of how information is accessed, transmitted, or stored. a. Users are responsible for following District rules and guidelines and state and federal law in their use of technology. b. Users will respect the ownership rights of work, ideas, or products and comply with plagiarism, copyright, and/or piracy laws. No illegal copying is permitted. Citing sources of information is expected. c. Users will not use technology devices for any type of academic dishonesty. Bring Your Own Device Program Maumee City Schools is committed to utilizing powerful online productivity tools and resources to enhance learning opportunities for our students. As part of this commitment, the district is allowing students in grades PK-12 and staff to bring their personally owned wireless electronic devices to school for the purpose of completing school work through the school s filtered wireless network. With staff approval, students will be able to access the school s filtered Internet connection and online resources (Google Apps, etc.) to complete their schoolwork. We realize that not every student owns a device; and for those who do, some may choose not to bring their personally owned device to school. There is absolutely no expectation that parents should provide a device to their child for this program. Approved Devices For the purpose of this "BYOD" program, approved devices include any privately owned wireless communication device that: A. Accesses the Internet through a fully functional web browser B. Has the capability to access the school s wireless network C. Has the capability to complete and submit schoolwork Approved devices include, but are not limited to: laptops, netbooks, tablets, ereaders, and smartphones. Students should ask for clarification on devices not listed. Approved Use All use of the devices while on school campuses and on the district s network must be for the sole purpose of schoolwork. Non-instructional activities are not permitted. Use of school network or services for entertainment or social purposes is prohibited. Use of school network resources for political, religious, or commercial purposes is strictly forbidden. However, personal cell phone calls or text messages outside of school hours are permitted. Approved Access When using personal devices at school, students will only be permitted to access the Internet through the Maumee City Schools wireless network. This is the same filtered Internet connection that all school computers use and should not be circumvented in accordance with the Children s Internet Protection Act. Students may not use their device as a "hot spot" to allow other students
to access the internet during the school day. Users should use school provided or approved webbased resources (i.e., Google Apps, etc.) for completing and submitting schoolwork. Personal devices will not have access to school internal resources or servers. Approved Places and Times TIME OF DEVICE USE HS MS ELEM Classrooms School sponsored extra-curricular activities School buses or other transport Cafeteria / Breakfast, Lunch Yes Hallways / Class Change or Hall Pass Yes No No Restrooms, Locker Rooms, Changing Rooms (real or make-shift) No No No During State Assessments No No No Adopted 6/11/13 Revised 12/9/13 Neola 2013